1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for providing a user interface in a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for providing a user interface capable of providing menus of a page scheme in a portable terminal without a touch screen and an apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, various advanced functions are now being included in a portable terminal, such as a portable phone, so that it may provide a user with increased convenience. That is, the portable terminal may execute various advanced functions such as a short message transmission/reception function, a digital broadcasting receiving function, and a music playback function as well as a general voice calling function. To control and execute the foregoing various functions, the portable terminal includes an input device. The input device used for the portable terminal may be one of various types such as a button type keypad, a touch screen, a touch pad, a ball joystick, an optical joystick, a wheel key, and a track ball. The input device transmits user commands to a controller, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), according to a previously defined operation scheme.
The portable terminal further provides menus that allow a user to rapidly execute the various functions or to change a setting value (e.g., bell sound, idle screen, screen brightness, etc.) of a certain function. Typically, a portable terminal with a touch screen provides menus in a page scheme where icons are arranged in multiple columns and rows. Since the portable terminal cannot display all of its menus included therein on a single page, it provides the menus on a plurality of pages. The page scheme provides menus included in the portable terminal in an intuitive manner to improve the convenience of a user. However, a portable terminal that does not include a touch screen may not provide menus in the page scheme. That is why a first arrow key signal for moving a page and a second arrow key for selecting one of a plurality of menus arranged on one page must be input through an input unit. That is, when an arrow direction is allotted to selection of menus, there is a problem of not being able to move a page. Accordingly, a conventional non-touch portable terminal cannot provide menus in a page scheme. To address the problem, additional keys for moving a page may be provided. However, it is inefficient to add key buttons for simply moving the page.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for providing a user interface in a portable terminal capable of providing menus in a page scheme in a non-touch portable terminal without adding key buttons.